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Published on: December 12, 2025
Evaluating decontamination protocols for the isolation of Mycobacterium ulcerans from swabs
Enid Owusu1, Mercy J Newman2, Amos Akumwena2
1Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. enidowusu15@yahoo.com.
Background:
Mycobacterium ulcerans (M. ulcerans) is the causative agent of Buruli Ulcer (BU) disease. In order to inhibit the growth of the microbial contaminants during culture of M. ulcerans, it is necessary to decontaminate BU samples with effective chemical agents. This study aimed at investigating some selected chemicals as potential decontamination agents for the isolation of M. ulcerans from swabs.
Results:
Povidone iodine at 0.5 and 1% exhibited the lowest contamination and recovery rate for microbial contaminants and M. ulcerans. The most effective decontamination method was the protocol using 2% cetylpyridinium chloride/4% sodium chloride (recovery rate = 53%, contamination rate = 14%). The observed difference between the recovery rate of 2% CPC/4% NaC and the other protocols was however not statistically significant (p = 0.76).
Conclusions:
Two percent (2%) cetylpyridinium chloride/4% sodium chloride can be conveniently used as an alternative decontamination method for the isolation of M. ulcerans from swabs.
